Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Controversial Springbok coach Peter De Villiers has yet again come out with some puzzling views on the recent second Test in the British & Irish Lions series.

De Villiers, who often baffles journalists with his strange analogies and generally confusing approach to the media, came out saying that he didn't think the Schalk Burger eye-gouge incident was worthy of a sending off at all.

Yesterday in at a press conference in Johannesburg, De Villiers once again faced the media, and once again defended Burger, adament that his actions werent deliberate. He also went on to suggest that if you can't appreciate rugby as a contact sport, you should take up ballet.

"I'm telling you, I watched the TV footage and I'm not saying anything otherwise I will go against everything we decided as a team. I watched the TV footage and I am still convinced there was nothing that he did on purpose. For Schalk himself when he watched it, he was like: 'Oh my!'. But he never meant to go to anybody's eye," De Villiers stressed.

When asked if he thinks the Burger incident overshadowed a historic win, De Villiers lit up.

"You know what, 29 years we've waited for this grrrreat occasion. 29 years! And we are going into the third Test with the series sealed. We are the winners of the British and Irish Lions series, and we are happy about it. This country can now rejoice and be positive for the next twelve years. So I would love the Lions supporters to honour the fact that we won this thing.

"It was tough and the hardest Test series I have seen in a long time. We came back from a a poor start and I never thought we would be able to do that, because this is a brilliant Lions team that we are up against," he said.

Apology

Late on Monday he cleared up what he had said about the incident, apologising for the misconception and explaining that he made his comments based on what he knows of Burger the player, not on what occurred.

"It was never my intention to suggest that I condone foul play. That is the last thing I would ever do and I apologise for that impression," he said.

SARU president Oregan Hoskins made an official apology: "We would like to apologise to the rugby community for the erroneous impression that acts of foul play are in any way condoned by South African rugby."

Is PDV barking mad, or just misunderstood and really bad at working with the media?

clearly he has been told to apologise. everyone knows the kind of player burger is and that eye gouging is never an accident because at no point should you ever need to put your hands on a players face.

pdv is an idiot for saying what he said because he clearly was condoning malicious foul play there is no misunderstanding if you hear what he said and the tone of his voice.

All this crap about the game getting softer is simply wrong, it is getting more and more physical if anything, players are getting bigger and injuries more frequent,

But what people are trying to phase out is the kind of thuggish behaviour no one wants to see.

I play at a reasonable level and I can tell you it is physicall, it is tough, it is hard, but one thing I never want to come into the sport I love is eye gougeing, it's barbaric, wrong, and can never be condoned by anyone in that kind of position.

If indeed eye gougeing was something acceptable in rugby, as de villers suggested, then I can say now, rugby is not a sport I would continue to play.

There's no need for it, it serves no purpose, and the consequences of it going too far don't even bare thinking about.

So let me say, on behalf of all true rugby fans, players and supporters, we do not want this in our sport.

Gone surely. The SA rfu is hardly the most forgiving union in the world and that is probably amongst the stupidest things I've heard anyone associated with this game say.

Whatever "kind of player/man" Burger is is irrelevant. For that moment he deliberately worked a guys eye. He should be looking at a seasons ban adding more shame to that delivered on him by the red card he should have received. For the figure head of SA rugby to stand up and claim that Fitzgerald, Edwards et al (and he is saying that! He states that those who moan about eye gouging should pull on their ballet shoes) should don a Tutu after being subject to such disgusting behaviour is beyond ridiculous.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS GUY IS TOO FUNNY!Unfortunately this is the typical kind of waffling on and saying nothing that i experience every day in Africa.. HAHAHAHAHA TIA everyone TIA (This Is Africa for those of you who dont know)

hes possibly the biggest chump on earth. when he didnt get his own way in a meeting he said he was going to give rugby back to the whites. jake whites brought the springboks to their peak, now which PDV to his best to ruin it.

Anonymous: I think you are the first person to point out the illegal tackle from O Driscoll which resulted in him and Rossouw being concussed.

What Burger did was disgraceful and yes he should have received a longer ban.

Even though I think PDV is an idiot the guy does have a point, rugby is a contact sport. Bakkies is banned for 2 weeks, ridiculous. Why has the citing committee not said or done anything regarding the reckless challenge of O Driscoll?

Also, nobody from the Lions Management congratulated the Springbok coaching team and I think that is pathetic. All everyone is going on about is the Burger incident. F..CK me its not like the Lions would have won the match had he not put his finger in the guy’s eye! In fact the Lions scored 10 points during the time he was in the bin. Get over it!

I once respected him for always speaking his mind, like calling the ABs cheaters, not many coaches would do that. I used to think he was ballsy.However, I'm starting to think he is maybe just a little bit stupid, and stays things that no other coach would be daft enough to say. I defo think he has "foot in mouth disease" he needs to get that checked.I believe he doesnt do much as a coach either and Matfield and Smit do most of the work.

i had the same opnion as dr.i understood every word there but as a sentence it makes abslutely no sense. also how can he defend burger by saying he was talking by how he knew the guy??? hes known as 'yellow card burger' ffs!!

PdV belongs on a muppets show. Well, I guess every sport needs a clown, a jester. Tough luck for the springboks that the fool is their coach, they deserved better, even if they are a bit thugish at times, I still love them

Clearly eye-gouging from Burger, can't understand why PDV is trying to defend it. Don't understand the reasoning behind Botha's citing (I love rugby but don't play it and am not well versed in all of the rules.

I know SA fans are saying BOD's tackle was illegal but I didn't think so (again I'm not sure). I'm Irish, and trying hard not to be biased here, but to me it kinda looks like he took on a guy who was physically larger than him and got blown back in the tackle before he could wrap his arms around Roussouw.

BOD is a pretty good tackler - I simply don't think he would NEED to resort to an illegal hit. Like, if you pause the video on 5:16 it looks like he's getting his arms around Roussouw and then just gets smacked backwards.

No-one is asking for the game to be less physical. The Try Savers & Rib Breakers compilations are fantastic and a big, legally-executed, well-timed hit is as entertaining as a slick backs move resulting in a try.

Eye-gouging is, on the other hand, not a part of the game I want to be associated with. No place for it.

Re: citings...and I pin my colours to the mast as a Lions fan...Berger should have got 6 months upwards, as should anyone who gouges.Bakkies, shouldn't have been cited.Sheridan should have been cited for that punch to the goolies.BOD's tackle on Roussow was fine. He has his arms in the process of wrapping but they both get bounced away from the point of impact because it was an absolute car crash of a hit.

and his apology saying that he did not attempt to condone eye gouging is total bullshit too. he clearly says that if we do dancing instead "there will be no eye gouging, no tackling". he equates eye gouging (a disgusting and inexcusable act) with tackling (a fundamental and integral part of our great game).

surely must lose his job, the south africans have a reputation for playing the game hard but fair, keeping this idiot at the helm of their sport will contradict this. must go.

agree with brighty too. botha shouldnt have been cited, clearing out the ruck, just unfortunate jones was crocked. but come on sheridans playful slap hardly merits a citing, now that would be softening up the game.

PDV...PDV...PDV. I'm an Irish boy, but Jesus Christ the man has NO idea what to say. Fair enough, I understand that he has been asked to speak on the behalf of the Springboks based on the incidents of last week... BUT... the bloke makes hardly any sense!!!

Which makes me wonder how the Springboks are so good (BRING BACK JAKE WHITE)

But obviously; in the words of Peter De Villiers: "Rugby is a contact sport....... so is dancing" blokes fuckt

the thing is, if you look at some of the huge hits throughout rugby where people really do get hurt, they are never cited, because they are not illegal.....now im not one who wants to see every little thing being cited, i mean i agree with PDV to an extent, but wit things that are potentially going to ruin lives and careers, (spear tackling, gouging, high tackles) etc i think ther is always a need for citing!!!

Yes rugby is a contact sport, people do get hurt, people break bones, but the point is if it happens within the rules then no one can complain!!! ....a point PDV seems to miss!

it was umm....Chris Czekay...(spelling?) of wales who broke his leg against australia, the guy who tackled him was not out to cause damage and i personally cannot see any welsh standing up and saying "its outrageous he broke Chris' leg" etc because it was an accident.....

now however bad you do or dont think burgers gouge was, if he had blinded Fitzgerald, or if parisse or anyone who gouges blinds someone, this suddenly makes things a lot more serious..... and i think PDV is seriously out of touch!

p.s i agree i think BODs tackle wasmt intentionally bad, he connected heads, hence the concussion. if the boks fans think he should be cited then its up to them, but personally i think BOD went in for a hard tackle then couldnt wrap because he connected heads with a brick wall!

Eye gouging is unacceptable. Players in (European) Heineken Cup have been banned for months without real evidence of eye-gouging : Burger should get something like 6 months off - I know he'll get much less though.

I'd also like to put this into context. If eye-gouging has been an illegal, reprehensible part of rugby since it started -but present nonetheless- i must say that during all that happened over the summer tours, the Bastareaud episode seems much more important to me. Not only did a lie by a 20-year old rugby player take international proportions, but the player in question just tried to end his life because of the media pressure that followed it. I'm not defending the lie, all i'm saying is that this kind of changes in our favorite sport (media pressure, Prime Ministers exchanging public apologies, and the amount of money involved in the game) is in my opinion a much worse problem we have to face.

As angry as I was against Burger while watching the game, I must say I got a reality check when I heard young Bastareaud almost killed himself because of that yet-to-be-clarified incident. I'd rather concentrate on showing him my support than dissing Burger.

edit : all i'm saying is that these changes in our favorite sport (media pressure, Prime Ministers exchanging public apologies, and the amount of money involved in the game) are in my opinion much worse problems we have to face.

obviously PDV is going somewhere with this shit. Theres method to his madness, and the entire british media is chewing him out. Thats probably exactly what he wants, to avert attention from the game to come and the teams. So I'll say De Villiers is pretty smart, and the entire british media is retarded.

PDV is actually very smart. Just to smart for me. I can't understand him when he talks. I can't understand his tactics. I just can't get the man. He reminds me of my maths teacher at school.Bla-Bla nonsense!! PS Maybe the boks will perform better than me at maths.......

schalk should be suspended for 6 weeks but rugby is a collision sport. and in a test series like the lions tour to sa there will be fights and will be heavey contact because it is such a tough test series.